Riviere leads Canada past Guatemala 3-0 in opening match of CONCACAF women’s U17

ST. GEORGE’S, Grenada – Jayde Riviere was one of three scorers as Canada earned a 3-0 win over Guatemala on Thursday at the opening day of the CONCACAF women’s under-17 championship.

Sarah Stratigakis and Vital Kats also scored in the Canadian victory, while goalkeeper Lysianne Proulx earned the clean sheet.

“We just went up against players that were competing on Guatemala’s women’s national team during Olympic qualifiers,” said coach Bev Priestman. “We believe there are some positives to draw from this performance, while it was a bit frustrating at times, we are happy with the chances that we created, although we will want to put the ball in the back of the net more often.”

Canada plays Grenada on Saturday and Haiti on Monday.

The top four countries from the eight-team tournament will advance to the knock-out round, with the semifinals on March 11 and the medal matches on March 13. The top three teams from the CONCACAF women’s under-17 championship will qualify for the FIFA U-17 women’s World Cup in Jordan later this year.

Canada is four-time CONCACAF women’s youth champions, twice at the U-20 level and once each at the U-17 and U-15 levels. Canada has participated in all four FIFA U-17 women’s World Cups since the biennial tournament was initiated in 2008, including three trips to the quarter-finals.